Even though he faced unimaginable torture and abuse at home, the eldest son of David and Louise Turpin from what is now notoriously known as the "house of horrors" still managed to excel in school and various extracurricular activities.
The Turpins' eldest son excelled at Mt. San Jacinto College and was even included in the honor roll for two semesters. The 25-year-old posted a GPA of 3.932, and took classes such as music, algebra, English, guitar, basic auto mechanics, and public speaking.
College spokeswoman Karin Marriott said that the young man was on the president's honor roll in fall 2015 and spring 2016, although he did not earn a degree.
However, it is reported that the eldest Turpin boy did not have many friends, and his former classmates described him as a bit of a loner. Josh Boldt recalled him as being "really pale," since his physical appearance showed signs of ill-treatment.
"It was kind of odd - not something you see a lot of times, someone that's really pale. Really malnutritioned kind of looking," Boldt said. "He always this kind of depressive aura about him, if that makes sense, and he really, really kept to himself. He didn't really open up."
Fellow student Marci Duncker recalled that last year, as soon as class was over "he'd leave. ... Didn't really talk to anybody." She continued, "I'd try to say 'Hi' a few times, all he did was look. I didn't see him after about a month or so. I think he just stopped coming."
His mother, Louise, would go to him to school then "wait outside the classroom for him. When he was finished with class, she would take him home," according to Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin.
The Turpin couple were arrested in January after one of their children - a 17-year-old girl - escaped the house by climbing out a window and ran to call 911 for help. They were arrested on Jan. 14 at their Perris home for abusing their 13 children for years.
Despite efforts to keep them together, the Turpin kids will now be split up, according to reports. The six younger children of the 13 who were found shackled at their home will be sent to two foster homes. The seven adults, who are thought to have serious developmental issues, will be sent to an assisted living facility to help them re-adjust into the world.
